Re: HOLD THE REPAIRS-Let's have fun

[Dave Eaton <dave.eaton@minedu.govt.nz>]

ok, i'll bite....

1)  ist experience was in '86 in south auckland.  i was gathered along with
hundreds of other faithful on a corner in a car park.  amid the most awesome
sound this side of a f1 v12 ferrari,  a sport quattro driven by rohl arrives
and "navigates" around the corner.  it became my first decent rally photo.  it
was also when i said to myself "one day, i'm going to own one of those cars".

2) just bought my 85 ur-q and was skiing down south (nz).  last off the field,
and had read some stuff from jonathan palmer about car control, namely about
how to deal with sudden (terminal) understeer.  so the car park was large and
covered in ice, and i thought - why not?  the technique was to touch the brakes
lightly once understeer is noticed and use the throttle to balance the car. 
answer, with locked diffs it worked amazingly well, with unlocked diffs not so
good.  it was when i realised how good 4wd could be.

3) the s2, wet road (in patches), nighttime, and a new m3 (the euro model not
the neutered usa one).  no contest in the wet.  none at all.  now a 4 wheel
drift in the s2 is soooo much more secure than one in the old ur-q (which could
leave brown stains on the seat).

4)  i was running late for the fia nz rally last month.  there was a line of
traffic in the "fast" lane to a round-about.  the slow lane was a tad wet, but
if i gunned it, i could just make it and cut into the fast lane going around. 
executed well i thought, until there is a voice on a loud hailer and flashing
lights and i get pulled over. mea culpa time, i thought.  "you see officer, i'm
running late, got to make the rally...."  but no, the officer asks me about the
car, asks me if i've got a clean license, tells me not to do it again, and
wishes me luck at the rally.   :-)

-dave.